The Indian Odyssey of Michael and Nix

Yesterday we spent the evening in the Sri Ranganatha Temple. I bought a ladoo ball at the Temple Prasad stall and ate it with gusto – God’s blessings flowing through chickpea fudge, it doesn’t get much better than that. Eating sweets is a lot easier than meditating that’s for sure.... They also do a nice briyani ;) We bumped into Dinadayal and his friend Revatinandan. As we spoke Dinadayal asked of me “What do you want to know most?” I replied “To know myself”. He grinned, waved his arms enthusiastically and spent the next couple of hours talking with us about the Vedas (“books of knowledge”). The two thousand year old Temple setting was very favourable for the discussion and charged the atmosphere. After some time I mentioned to Revatinandan that I want to be more open and receptive. He replied “Don’t vurree you are already very receptive, which is most helpful. You are ripe!” Ripe for what I am not entirely sure.... I told him that we really enjoy India and feel that we benefit greatly from being here. India feels like the holiest place on earth to me, and the environment is highly conducive to moving forward spiritually. I went on to say that I feel more at home here than I do at “home” and wasn’t enamoured with the prospect of returning to South Africa. He smiled and said “Yes, it is clear from the vay you are sitting cross legged on the floor that you vur most certainly Indian in a past life!” He explained that God knows what is good for us and that we are all born where we are born and live where we live for a reason. As such, we should surrender gracefully to God’s will so we can benefit and be of benefit to others. That certainly seems like a better approach than fighting what is and suffering greatly as a result. Revatinandan began to warn us of pitfalls to progress on the path. I commented that it feels good to at least be on a path of some sort, to which he exclaimed “You are on a path, but be careful you do not go the wrong way!” Dinadayal added “That is true, but all the indications show that you are both going the right way.” We left the temple feeling calm, content and happy. They told us that they felt great bliss for meeting and talking with us. I thought “bliss” was only attainable via lengthy meditation practice and absorption in samadhi, but I believe I was also experiencing bliss at that moment, and have experienced it on many other occassions on this journey.... I enjoyed the best sleep I’ve had since Mumbai in our very comfortable room. We got up at 5am to meditate then walked in the Temple grounds before meeting Revatinandan at the Eskon Temple - he was going to show me where to find the Bhagavad Gita. He reiterated what Aruna had told us at Amma’s ashram – the strongest time for spiritual practice is between the hours of 4am and 6am. That time of day undoubtedly feels very special. The world has yet to awake, although in India many people are up and about at that time engaged in their respective practices – chants, puja, prayers, circumambulation of the Temple and so on. I find it much easier to get up early in India. The environment inspires me. We also go to bed much earlier, which helps - there are far fewer distractions to keep us up late. The book shop was closed so Revatinandan suggested that he could bring me a copy later this evening at the Temple. We parted company and Nix and I continued down to the Kaveri River where we saw an elephant receiving a spa treatment. Four mahuts were scrubbing him with large stones they had picked up from the river bed. The elephant was loving it – he lay on his side without moving a muscle. Tomorrow we are leaving Srirangam for Shantivanam – a fusion of Benedictine monastery and Hindu ashram. The first challenge will be to find the village where Shantivanam is located and get to it via public transport. Getting directions in India is hard. Getting directions in Tamil Nadu is harder still. But nothing worthwhile is ever easy.... At least, not in my experience....